Chapter 80 - The Regressor Is Flustered (1)

"Kim Junho. You go in."

Kang Chan spoke calmly from inside the barrier.

"I can feel this seal weakening. It should break in an hour or two."

He ran a fingertip along the spherical barrier, then turned his gaze toward the fallen Dok Suhui.

"Once the seal breaks, I'll take Dok Suhui and leave Floor 3. So you go through the red door."

"But..."

That suited me just fine. I needed to go through the red door at least once anyway.

Still, it bothered me that Kang Chan was giving up the reward so readily. I hadn't told him about Regression in this iteration. I couldn't understand why he was being so generous.

"Why? The reason is simple."

Kang Chan turned to look at the door, its surface a mixture of red and gray.

"First, I don't like the look of that reward itself."

His eyes were somber.

"This tower was built to judge humanity. And cooperation was the main task on this floor. They made it impossible to proceed if even one of us died, only to encourage betrayal at the very end."

He was right. The tower encouraged wrongdoing while threatening to pass judgment on anyone who committed it. It was downright hypocritical.

"That's why I find it hard to believe that reward will be entirely beneficial. There might be a penalty."

The door had been blood-red to begin with. As Kang Chan said, the reward probably wouldn't be all good.

"So I won't take that risk."

Kang Chan folded his arms as he spoke.

"I'm already strong enough. Rather than take an unnecessary risk, I'll settle for the basic reward. You can bear the risk."

That was what he said, but I could easily guess what he really meant.

In this iteration, Kang Chan hadn't told me about his ability. As far as he was concerned, he was still playing the part of the ruthless, arrogant powerhouse.

He was probably giving up the reward because, deep down, he acknowledged everything I'd accomplished along the way.

"I-I think... you should go in too, Junho. But for a slightly different reason."

This time, it was Ahn Gyeongjun.

"You were the first to figure out the wolves at the start... and you played a big part in getting us through that bizarre maze along the way... Above all, the arrow traps were practically your one-man show, weren't they? I think you've contributed more than enough to deserve that reward."

He was right. To get through this iteration quickly, I'd predicted all sorts of threats under the guise of my so-called Insight, allowing us to make our way through Floor 3 with ease. In fact, if we were judging overall contributions, hadn't mine been the greatest?

"And..."

Ahn Gyeongjun looked down at Dok Suhui as he continued.

"... I'm sure Suhui would have thought so too."

"Dok Suhui is a traitor. Not someone to pity."

Kang Chan frowned, but Ahn Gyeongjun merely smiled, sweat beading on his face.

"... Haha. It's true that she's a traitor. But would she have acted this way if it weren't for the tower? In the end, the tower is what turned a young student into this..."

Kang Chan sighed and shook his head.

"... Forget it."

"..."

Watching Ahn Gyeongjun tend to Dok Suhui, I felt my heart sink.

I could see her horrific wound. The pained contortion of her face.

Would the normal person I aspired to be really have blown a high school student's arm off?

Dok Suhui was a traitor. Did that give me the right to pass a "verdict" on her? I didn't know. Ultimately, it was a matter of choice.

I had needed to do something... but the question was always how far to go. Too little was a problem, and so was too much. And Dok Suhui's entire arm being blown off was clearly too much.

My face twisted without my realizing it. In the process of regressing over and over to get past the arrow traps, I'd started to stop seeing people as people.

Despite being so wary of losing my reason, I had already become warped to some extent.

"... It's all right."

It was Kang Chan who pulled me out of the mire of my thoughts.

"You did well."

"... What do you mean?"

"..."

He didn't answer. He was staring at my right index finger.

"... Oh."

In a previous iteration, when I'd pressed Kang Chan about his ability and was planning how to get through the arrow traps, I'd had a chance to talk with him.

The man I'd come to understand then was someone who knew the limits of his ability precisely and acted on meticulous calculations.

That was why, he'd said, he had a habit of observing first whenever he encountered a new environment.

Kang Chan stared at my finger for a while longer, then gave a small nod.

He'd seen it. He must have.

He would have seen me head straight for the red door as soon as we entered the room. He might not know how I'd known the door would be there, what trait I'd used to make it explode, or whether I'd acted with advance knowledge of Dok Suhui's betrayal...

But he could easily have deduced that I'd been involved in the explosion.

"..."

And... even knowing I'd blown Dok Suhui's arm off, Kang Chan had yielded the chance to enter the red door to me.

That was trust. He'd spoken of reasons he shouldn't go in himself, but his actions showed that he trusted me.

All those hardships I'd endured while struggling to clear Floor 3 hadn't been meaningless.

That was how I felt.

* * *

After we exchanged contact information and briefly discussed what we would do next, Kang Chan looked me straight in the eye from inside the barrier.

"Think carefully. Will you go in?"

"..."

I really did have my doubts.

I still didn't know much about how to remove traits. If I received some bizarre trait or reward called "A Traitor's End" here... my already unstable mind might become completely warped.

Perhaps I would regret this decision for a long, long time.

"I'll go in."

Despite all that, I placed my palm on the discolored door.

Because, with its crust of blood blown away, the door's surface was the color of ordinary stone, no different from the other door.

Because even if layers of dried blood had turned its exterior red, underneath it was as sound as any other stone door.

Because I believed it was the people using the door who were warped, not the door itself.

I placed my palm on the stone door, and...

RUMBLE.

A blue portal appeared. An ordinary blue portal, no different from the other one on the right.

"... I'll see you again later."

With a large chest tucked under one arm, I threw myself into the portal.

My vision went black in an instant.

* * *

When I opened my eyes again, I saw an enormous stone statue.

[Warrior.]

I was on a mountain somewhere, and a statue that appeared to depict a man was speaking to me.

[A warrior must have a fitting weapon.]

I remembered that voice. It was the one that had told us to drink each other's blood in the room where we'd had to split into pairs.

From where I stood, I could only see the statue's back, but it had a solemn, imposing presence.

"... Who are you?"

[Warrior. Did you conduct yourself as a warrior while passing through the cave?]

The statue ignored my question and said only what it wished to say.

[... Originally, this place was meant for the most honorable warrior. As you overcame the trials, you were to assess one another, acknowledge one another, and yield the reward to the most honorable among you. That was the purpose behind its creation, but...]

The statue's mountainlike presence softened a little.

[... At some point, those who lost their reason to greed corrupted that purpose.]

"..."

That was right.

The red door that allowed only one person through probably hadn't been red from the start. Blood had accumulated on it, layer upon layer upon layer, until it turned red.

Everything in the world was like that. Exposure to life's storms inevitably changed things. Even something that began with good intentions... could become grotesquely distorted before you knew it.

Like Dok Suhui... and perhaps me too.

[I have digressed long enough. You shall receive your reward.]

The statue slowly began to shine.

Its entire body turned white, then transformed into a mass of light in an instant.

[A weapon is a mirror of its warrior. An evil person will be given an evil weapon... Did you conduct yourself as a warrior in the cave?]

The light drifted toward me, gathering into the shape of a sword.

"..."

And the sword that finally materialized... wasn't a sword.

"Huh?"

A scabbard.

There was literally nothing but a scabbard in my hand.

"... This isn't a weapon."

Normally, staring hard at an item would bring up its Status window, but even that didn't appear for this scabbard. The ring the Archangel had given me had been the same. Did hidden items just not display anything?

[A weapon is a mirror of its warrior. Always remember that.]

Once again, the voice didn't answer.

As the statue's deep, resonant voice faded, my vision went dark for an instant.

[You have cleared Floor 3-5.]

[Entering Floor 1.]

When I opened my eyes again, I was on Floor 1.

A Word from the Author (Afterword)

Floor 3 is finished. I'd like to thank every reader who stayed with it to the end.

I don't know what you thought of Floor 3, but it was a floor where I aimed for relatively broad appeal. My limitations as a writer left me very dissatisfied with the ending, though...

For Floor 4, I'll be going all in on the sort of fun I personally enjoy. I hope it suits your tastes. Thank you.

P.S.) There was actually another version in which Dok Suhui didn't betray them.

They simply drew lots peacefully to decide who would go through the red door, and Dok Suhui won the first draw.

The protagonist figured he'd just been unlucky, regressed, and drew again... but strangely enough, even after more than ten regressions, Dok Suhui kept winning. She'd been using Inventory to cheat.

I debated what to do at that point and switched to the betrayal plot... Now I regret it. Sob

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